Forbidden Fruit
by JazzylovesTransformers
Summary: God, why couldn't things just be easy in her life for once? Megatron/OC. Spoiler Warnings: Based off the novel of "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" and the movie.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Be aware, this is based on the novel of the third movie, so do not read on if you do not wish to be spoiled. I'm not saying that everything here will be completely the same as the movie, but it is based off the novel, so there are bound to be quite a few similarities. Also don't read if you don't want to be spoiled about the book. Yesh. Spoiler warnings. Don't cha love 'em? Don't say I didn't warn ya. **

**Megatron/OC, because this book hyped me up WAY too much.**

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><p>It was a regular morning in the apartment being rented by the young couple. The boyfriend, believe it or not, was already up, having just completed his morning jog and had his regular morning shower. His next chore was to awake the creature that was slumbering in his bed.<p>

Light filtered through the curtains, casting a dim glow over the bedroom, but not quite reaching the sloth that lay hidden beneath the many layers of sheets. Birds chirped loudly outside, too, as if urging the sleeper to awaken, but even they could be blocked out by a simple pillow over the head. Adrian, once again, was amused by the extents his girlfriend would go to just to get an extra minute or so of shut-eye.

"Wakey-wakey, sleeping beauty."

There was a resisting groan from the lump underneath the blankets, refusing to budge from it's spot beneath the covers. Adrian let out an amused sigh, opening up the curtains and walking over to the bed to pull the sheets back as well as the pillor off her head. He would drag her out of bed if he had to, though he really didn't want to resort to that.

Light streamed through the open curtains, hitting the girl directly in the eyes. There was an annoyed growl, and she blindly attempted to swat at the offending sunlight.

"Adrian...!" she groaned, eyes opening blearily.

"Mornin' sleepyhead," he purred in reply, only to narrowly dodge a pillow aimed at his head. With a soft chuckle, he slipped into the bed beside his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her midsection and kissing the top of her head. "Something wrong?" he teased light-heartedly.

"Yeah," she mumbled sleepily, snuggling in to his warm embrace, "It's freakin' Monday."

Adrian chuckled, planting another quick kiss on the top of her head before rising to his feet. His girlfriend, Amanda, let out an annoyed huff at the loss of contact and flopped back down into their bed. Absently, Adrian wondered if poking her with a stick would get her up faster.

"Come on, time to get up. I have to get to work, and you still have to go to your lunch with your sister and her newest boyfriend."

Amanda let out another reluctant groan, not enthused about meeting the latest douche who had decided to attatch himself to her sister. The last one... don't even get her started on the last one. It was the last time Amanda would tolerate an arrogant ass strutting around the house as if he owned the place. Only Adrian, level-headed and tolerant Adrian, had stopped her from picking up a baseball bat and knocking some sense in to her sister and her pig of a boyfriend.

"Don't be like that. She said this one was different," Adrian pointed out, disappearing into their adjoined bathroom.

It was far too early for it to even be legal to get up for her, but she supposed she didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. Amanda mumbled something incoherent under her breath, before getting up to follow after him. She could've left it at that, but she wasn't going to give an almost-guranteed asshole the benefit of the doubt... even if she hadn't met him yet. Heck, just thinking about what new lengths this guy could go to to piss Amanda made her want to strangle something.

"Yeah, but that's what she said the last twenty times," Amanda snorted, practically bouncing into the room and perching herself up on the sink counter.

Adrian spared her an amused glance, moving to turn away and pick his towel off the floor, when she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him closer, leaning in closer for a kiss. He allowed one, a very brief one at that, before pulling away and regarding her with an arched eyebrow and a look that said 'I-know-what-you're-up-to.'

"What?" she asked innocently, wrapping her arms around his neck and nuzzling him affectionately.

"You know exactly what," he said, the amused glint never leaving his eyes, "This is another one of your procrastination methods."

"I don't know what youre talking about" she murmured softly, pulling him closer for another kiss.

He looked like he was going to indulge her for a second, just a second, before he pulled his head back slightly and gently pushed himself away from her.

"No," he said firmly, although the playful sparkle in his eye reflected just how tempted he was to give in to her game, "Shower. Now."

"Adrian..." she objected, pouting, looking like she'd rather do anything but.

"Don't 'Adrian' me, missy," he said, doing his best mock impresonation of a parent scolding their child, "You know what Dylan's like. Now get into that shower, young lady."

With a defeated sigh, she slipped off the counter, throwing a playful glare at her boyfriend as she did so. He let out a soft chuckle, planting a quick kiss on her lips. She still kept up the mock glare.

"See you tonight," he said.

"Look forward to it."

* * *

><p><em>"Where are you?" <em>the voice demanded over the phone.

"Hold your hair on, sis'. I'm on my way now."

Amanda was, in fact, swerving her way madly through the traffic that dared to block her path. She'd been a little... distracted by a certain book she'd came across whilst she was getting ready and, as usual, it had made her late to the lunch with her sister and her boyfriend. Oh well. No big loss. It wasn't like she was eager to see him in the first place.

_"You should've been 'on your way' fifteen minutes ago!"_

"Alright, _alright_! Keep your exasperation to yourself. I'm like 10 seconds away."

_"10..."_

"Hey! Don't count!"

_"9..."_

"You're counting too fast!"

_"8, 7, 6..."_

"This isn't fair! I'm stuck in traffic!"

_"5..."_

"I hope you realise you're just wasting your money on your cell phone."

_"4..."_

"Did I ever tell you how much I hate you?"

_"3, 2, 1. Love you too, 'Manda. Oh and look! No sister. Hmmm... why am I not suprised..."_

"Alright, you made your point. You can leave your beloved sister alone now... I'm almost there."

Without further ado, Amanda quickly snapped her cell phone shut, figuring she'd had enough of Carly's teasing over the phone for one day. Now her sister got to do it in person... oh joy. Where was Adrian when you needed him?

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><p><em>"My man! Where have you been?"<em>

_The voice is laid back, friendly, with a grin that no doubt charmed a good amount of girls he aimed it towards. Said man, however, knew better than to fall for the cheery exterior. Inside was a hardened businessman, whose only interest was money and only thoughts were to come out on top of every deal, regardless of who- or what- was harmed in his way. A real monster of a man inside, really handsome on the outside. Some guys had all the luck._

_"Sir," he replied politely, not leaving a trace of his thoughts for the crocodile-man to identify._

_"Just the man I wanted to see. Come, let's go into my office where things are more... private."_

_The man dutifully follows after the businessman, making his way through the winding halls that were filled with countless numbers of bustling workers who seemed quite content to just shove through any object- living or otherwise- that got in their way. Including the man. The businessman seemed to have no such problem: people moved out of his way, and instead of blatantly ignoring him like they seemed to do to the follower they greeted the businessman with cheery waves and friendly greetings. The follower soon found it easier just to walk directly behind the businessman rather than fight his way throught the crowd. __For him, the journey to the man's office couldn't be over sooner._

_When they did finally arrive, the man was noticably relieved to be out of such a chaotic mess, flopping himself down in the chair that was positioned in front of the businessman's desk, gladly accepting the drink that was offered to him. The businessman was more dignified in the way he sat himself down on the opposing side of the desk, languidly reclining in the chair and giving the man another one of his famous grins. Once upon a time, the follower had found the welcoming and open grin to be truly genuine. Now he knew him well enough that everything about it was completely fake, just like the rest of the him._

_Taking a drink for himself, the businessman took a quick swig, before getting straight down to... well... business._

_"They're getting impatient, you know," he said to the visitor, leaning forward slightly in his chair, as if getting a better look at him._

_"I know," the other replied, idly playing with his already half-empty cup, letting out a sigh that sounded suspiciously like defeat._

_The businessman arched an eyebrow curiously, holding his position for a moment longer before calmly leaning back into his chair._

_"Just lettting you know," he said easily, as if they were discussing something as innocent as the weather. "They don't like to be kept waiting."_

_"I'm well aware of that, too," the man replied, his voice edging towards the precipice of annoyance, as if discussing his failure somehow irritated him._

_The businessman merely tossed him an amused look, swirling the contents of his cup around thoughtfully. Silence lapsed between the two of them; the businessman examining the other as if he'd just found out something rather interesting about him, and the man looking at him as if daring him to make the next move. Incidentally, he did._

_"Any particular date I can give them, then?"_

_"Soon," is all the man offers, the words coming out almost immediately on reflex._

_"That's what you said last time." _

_The tone of the businessman's voice has noticably changed. He still holds the same friendly and conversational air about it, but there's an underscore of danger, and the tension between them suddenly became so thick you could cut it with a knife._

_"Yeah, well, there were unseen complications last time."_

_"Is that so?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Like forgetting who you're playing for?"_

_Silence falls again, but not in the same way it did last time. It is a shocked silence, the result of the man not being certain on how to reply to the question. The businessman returns the startled look with a pleasant smile, placing his glass down on his desk. Not much conveys the man's surprise- no gasp, no taken-aback look on his face- but there was enough. The slight widening of his eyes for starters._

_"Surely you didn't think we missed your growing affection?" the businessman purred, on his feet by this time and walking around his desk towards the man._

_The man instinctively leans away, his eyes now narrowing suspiciously, hands tightening on the chair as if bracing himself for some sort of struggle. The businessman merely dismisses the action with a wave of his hand, the amusement never leaving his expression._

_"All's fair in love and war, Mr. Stryder. So long as it doesn't stop you from completing you objective."_

_"Never."_

_The words come out firm, assured, so full of confidence it would be hard to doubt him. But the businessman raises his eyebrows, and he looks nothing but skeptical. And the look of amusement still has yet to leave his face._

_"Excellent, Mr. Stryder. You won't mind taking this back then from when you threw it into the dump."_

_'Mr. Stryder' visably pales as a small, black object is dangled before him, before unceremoniously being dropped onto his lap. When he looks back up, the businessman is leaning in towards him, optics narrowed in an expression that reminds him of a hawk sizing up it's next meal. Stryder tries to lean back again, to cease the uncomfortable feeling of another invading his personal space, but he is trapped. _

_"I suggest you do it this time, Mr. Stryder... before I do."_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Things actually kinda get sorta interesting in this chapter. Sorry for the late-ish update. I'm terrible at the kind of thing. In this chapter, Amanda finally meets her sister's new "jerk" of a boyfriend, and more Amanda/Adrian at the end. Don't worry. The Decepticons will be arriving in the next chapter, because personally I get bored with stories that don't just skip to the main event and keep dragging it out.**

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><p>"Are you sure she'll like me?"<p>

Carly turns to the nervous looking young man beside her, reminding her much of a deer trapped in headlights simply from his comical expression. It was almost amusing to think he could stand up against the likes of Megatron and other 30 foot robots, but could not, for the life of him, find the courage to face her younger sister. Then again, to his credit, her sister did have a rather nerve-wracking track record... she supposed she should be thankful she didn't tell him about the time she'd chased Carly's ex-boyfriend down the road with a metal baseball bat after he wouldn't stop ringing the doorbell. The blonde had a feeling it might've just been that time of the month in that case...

Regardless of her thoughts, she gives him a reassuring smile and squeezed his hand that is in her grasp, trying to conduct as much as love and confidence through the simple gestures as she could. Her sister was like a wolf sometimes: she would immediately attack at the first sign of weakness, and if she saw one in Sam she would probably repeatedly jab at it until he finally cracked. In some cases Carly found her sister's protectiveness of her amusing. Mostly, it got kinda annoying when she was trying to keep ahold of her boyfriends as opposed to scaring them off.

"You'll do fine. Amanda's just... kind of protective after what happened to my brother."

Sam arched his eyebrows, giving Carly the impression he wasn't entirely convinced that it was going to be as easy as his girlfriend was making it out to be. As if on cue, the bell on the door rang, and the familiar sight of Carly's sister slipped in through the doorway, her eyes raking over the room to pinpoint the location of the pair she was looking for. In many aspects, Amanda was rather similar to Carly: long legs, blonde hair and fairly tanned skin. The only difference was the eyes... Amanda's were a deep, dark brown, as opposed to Carly's lighter colour.

It wasn't really that much of a surprise when you thought about it, though; the colour of their eyes. If anything, the similarity in their appearance was more startling than their differences, especially considering Amanda had been adopted as a baby. People had always passed it off as one of those strange coincedences, though, like they normally did. Afterall, what other valid reason could there be for the two to look so similar?

Upon spotting them, Amanda returned Carly's cheery wave, convienently ignoring Sam's and making her way over to them. Carly's eyes narrowed at that, but decided not to comment... for now. She may be a pain in the ass, but she was still her sister, and Carly figured she'd have to stick up with her (for now, at least). Even then, it still didn't stop Carly from feeling like she'd drawn the short straw on foster sisters, though. One didn't pick their relatives, she supposed... no matter how much Carly loved her.

"You took your time," Carly teased her light-heartedly, as Amanda slid into the small booth with them.

Not only that, but Carly couldn't help but notice (with much disappointment) that Adrian was not with her. In all her years of putting up with the younger female, Carly had never quite met a man that could tame and and reign-in the fiery spirit that was her sister like Adrian could. He was so calm and relaxed, and seemed to know what to do with Amanda better than Carly did, which was rather embarrassing considering she'd known Amanda for much longer than him. Regardless, his presence was always welcome, particularly when he kept Amanda in a more tolerable and reasonable mood than she was in at the moment. Carly was still waiting for the day they'd finally realise they were meant for eachother and get engaged... Adrian would be a welcome addition to their family, no doubt about it.

Amanda good-naturedly rolled her eyes at Carly, comfortably settling down into her spot, still refusing to even give Sam a second glance... scratch that, in order for her to give Sam a second glance she would've had to have given him a first glace. Carly gave the slightest of sighs, giving Sam an exasperated and slightly apologetic look over her shoulder before turning back to her sister, arching her eyebrows expectantly in a clear indication for her to "behave." Whatever Amanda's definition of "behaving" was, anway...

"Sam, this is my sister Amanda. _Amanda, _this is my boyfriend, Sam Witwicky," Carly introduced them, putting emphasis on her sister's name so that she would be forced to acknowledge the words.

"Nice to meet you," Sam said, polite as ever.

"Wish I could say the same," Amanda responded coldly, giving him a glare.

There was no hiding Carly's scowl at her rude behaviour, kicking her shin underneath the table and giving her a meaningful glance. Amanda gave a pained hiss, giving Carly a filthy look and deftly rubbing where she'd been assualted, her gaze promising a world of pain for Carly as soon as she got the chance. Carly couldn't say she was concerned; as far as physical fights were concerned, Carly always came out on top. And Amanda knew it.

It was typical of Amanda to be acting the way she was, trying to establish a "you-fuck-with-my-sister-and-I'll-bash-your-skull-in" relationship with Carly's boyfriend. Normally it worked... if by "working" it mean "scaring all of Carly's boyfriends away before they'd even learnt her middle name." The unlucky few that had stuck around just to break her heart had often been on the receiving end of some sort of physical or verbal abuse on Amanda's part. Amanda tended to defend her actions by claiming that she was simply trying to prevent guys from taking advantage of her loving sister, which Carly had to admit she believed. Jealousy was completely ruled out of the question: she knew Amanda well enough to know that she was more than happy with her own boyfriend.

On her other side, however, Sam was not looking as confident as Carly's sister was. His initial look of surprise at the blunt response had been replaced with his usual nervous look, giving the impression he was more than anxious to be out of there as soon as possible. The hand that was resting in her palm was beginning to sweat, and no amount of reassuring squeezes to it seemed to be having much of an effect on the owner any more. Carly pitied Sam, truly she did, but she was not going to bolt just because her sister felt like getting shitty with them. It was almost like a test, the first meeting with Amanda. Except, if you passed it, she simply began to hate you more, rather than begin to respect you.

"Amanda," Carly said, her tone full of warning. "That's no way to convince us to let you and Adrian move in with us."

"That's nice."

Carly let out an annoyed huff of air, folding her arms and arching an eyebrow at her, releasing Sam's hand as she did so. Did Amanda really have to be so stubborn and proud? Not only that, but her voice was filled with confidence, as if she knew Carly would not deny them either way. If she thought that, she had another thing coming. Carly would not let her live with them if all she was going to do was make Sam's life a living hell. "Oh? And what makes you so assured I won't kick you two out on the streets?"

"Adrian. You like him too much to kick him out on the streets," Amanda responded with a shrug, reclining in her seat and giving Carly a smug look.

Damn. Carly would have to give her that one. "Fine. Maybe I'll let Adrian in, but you can go hole up in the homeless shelter."

_"Dearest_ sister," Amanda began, word positively dripping with sarcasm, "you and I both know that Adrian would not abandon me so."

Fine. Another point. Carly gave her sister another glare, before turning slightly, gaze softening as it fell on the awkward-looking Sam. In an attempt to calm his nerves, she returned to a civilised tone, hoping to reason with Amanda. As much as she loved her sister, she could be a right pain in the ass more often than not. And her poor, unfortunate boyfriends (as well as Carly) always seemed to be the ones who had to pay for her bad attitude. Where was Adrian when you needed him? If he were here instead of working (or that was where Carly assumed him to be, at least) this meeting could've run much more smoothly than it was at the present moment. However, it seemed if anybody was going to keep things calm between them all, it would have to be Carly.

Motioning to the cups of coffee before her and Sam, Carly asked as politely as possible, "Would you like something?"

"No. I'm fine."

It was going to be a long lunch, Carly realised. A long and likely very, very painful one, if not for her then at least for Sam.

"I've been offered a new job," Carly piped up in an effort to change the subject. The mood noticably changed almost immediately. Both Sam and Amanda visably tensed then drooped at the mention of work, slightly envious looks simultaneously crossing their faces at the news. Carly's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, believing she may have just found a mutual subject of interest between them, and dared to press on despite the negative effects the news had had on both of them. "Me and Adrian are going to be seeing a lot more of eachother, it seems."

"Oh joy," Amanda answered sarcastically, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest defensively. "And what number job is this? Your fifth?"

"Don't be like that," Carly said, sympathetic, "Sam's struggling to get his first job too."

"I'm not _struggling," _Amanda spat, getting more defensive with each passing second, unknowingly responding just as Carly wanted her to. Carly couldn't help but feel proud with herself over how she was pressing all the right buttons. "It's just those dumbasses out there don't know how to recognize _greatness_ when they see it."

"Huh. You're telling me," Sam snorted, finally finding an opening in which he could join in the conversation. Amanda shot him a look and, for the slightest of seconds, Carly feared her plan may have backfired. However, her response was more than assuring, and the young British girl rather visably relaxed with a smug look on her face that was becoming hard to conceal.

"I wasn't, actually," she said, though the sentence seemed to lack it's previous venom.

Taking this as a positive side, Carly excitedly sat forward, determined not to let the conversation drop. The oppurtunity she saw for her boyfriend and sister to begin getting along could _not- _would not- slip out of her grasp. How many times had this happened in her many past relationships? Very few. There were only about two boyfriends she could ever remember Amanda getting along with, and one of them had turned out to be gay. Not exactly encouraging, but anything was preferable to the tension between the pair at that given point in time.

It turned out, however, that any assistance from Carly was not required, as Sam was more than capable of continuing the conversation by himself. Seemingly, Carly was not the only one who had taken note of Amanda's encouraging change in tone, and the young Witwicky looked as eager to please as ever. Perhaps... Carly thought, perhaps this might not be such a long lunch afterall. If they could get along, then how less complicated Carly's life would be. One of her greatest worries had been the first meeting between Amanda and her boyfriend for the past few days, but it had actually been going a lot better than she had initially expected it to.

"I don't even know what their issue is," Sam was saying to her, "It's like they've got a five foot pole shoved up their ass or something."

"Tell me about it!" she snorted, shaking her head in exasperation. "I mean, dude, seriously? I graduated from college, which is more than I could say for half your employees..."

"Apparently that doesn't matter anymore," Sam agreed. "I went to an Ivy League college, but that doesn't seem to mean shit to them. It's like they expect us to pull a rabbit out of a hat or something. And my medal from the President? Might as well be nonexistent."

_"You _have a medal?_"_ Amanda asked, looking genuinely surprised and impressed.

"Yep. From POTUS himself." He had visably straightened in his seat now, chest puffed out in a welcome surge of pride and confidence that was rather rare in him. "POTUS, as in President of the United States."

"What the hell is stopping them from hiring you, then?" Amanda growled, looking comically outraged, getting that look in her eyes when she decided she liked somebody. For all her abilities at being able to keep a straight face, Amanda was like reading an open book at times, particularly when it came Carly. "What'd you get it for, anyway?"

What appeared to be a good conversation was rudely interrupted by Carly's phone, the beeper going off to alert her that her lunch break was nearly finished and she had to get back to work. Almost all heads in the quiet cafe seemed to turn to her at once, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Sam going slightly red from the unwanted attention. Silently cursing it's bad timing, she fiddled for the electronic, pulling it out and putting a swift end to the alarm. **LUNCH ENDED **seemed to stare back at her mockingly on her phone, a cruel reminder that there could surely be no God out there (either that, or He had a twisted sense of humor), or He would've surely wanted the little 'bonding session' to go on for only a tiny bit longer.

Carly quickly downed her coffee, the other occupants of the cafe having turned back to their own business by now, and nudging Sam slightly as an indication to start moving out of the booth. She had a fairly new job, afterall, and being late would not look good on her record... even if she did believe Dylan was pretty lenient when it came to her. Hey, being her _did_ have it's perks, although she tried not to use them to her advantage too much. Sam looked a touch more relieved than he should have, and Carly understood why. He couldn't exactly straight-up tell her that he'd gone and saved the entire world from the massive alien robots that were taking refuge on the planet, which was where the question had been leading.

Despite her understanding of his situation, Carly shot him a look; one that clearly detailed that, if Adrian and Amanda were going to live with them, they were going to have to find out sooner or later. Sam gave her a hopeless shrug, and Carly generously opted to let it slide for now. They still had to the weekend, right? Besides, now might not be the best time to bomb her sister with such news. She'd only just begun to like the guy, and dropping something like that on her all of a sudden could pretty much ruin whatever relationship they had.

"Nice meeting you, Amanda," Sam said, sliding out of the booth with Carly behind him.

"You too, Sam," Amanda responded with a slight smile, giving Carly an amused look that clearly spelt out she'd finally caught on to what Carly had just done. The older sister winked at her, grinning slightly, and giving a small wave in farewell.

"See you later, 'Manda. I expect you and Adrian to be moving in this weekend, or else."

Outside, Bumblebee sat in his ALT Mode, having been brought by Sam as a way to impress Amanda if it came to that. However, his thoughts were far from the job at hand; his scanners were repeatedly running over Amanda, praying to Primus or whatever being was up there that what he was picking up was wrong. Unfortunately, after the fiftieth scan, the readings came back the same each time. He barely even acknowledged the human couple, Sam and Carly, seating themselves inside and starting his engine.

/Bumblebee to Optimus. I think we've found _her./_

* * *

><p>When Adrian returned home that afternoon, he did not expect the scene he was greeted with. Carefully setting his work down on the cabinet at the door, he quietly moved in the direction of the kitchen, where he could hear some distinct humming originating from. Peeking around the corner, he was greeted with the rather welcome sight of Amanda happily cooking dinner, in a much better mood than he'd expected to see her in.<p>

"Hey, sweetheart," he purred, sliding into the kitchen, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"You're home early," she commented, pausing in her actions to relax into his embrace, letting out a contented sigh as she did so.

A slight smile graced his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of her head before releasing her, hovering over the oven to get a smell as to exactly what she was cooking. Corn beef, mashed potato and corn. His favourite... something extraordinary must've happened today to put her in such a good mood, and prevented her from going into an immediate rant about what a dick Carly's latest boyfriend was. Deciding to proceed with caution, Adrian's gaze left dinner and returned to his girlfriend, entwining his hand with hers and daring to ask the question,

"So... how did it go?"

"Pretty good, actually," she smiled, giving his hand a small squeeze before busying herself with dinner again.

Adrian stood there for a moment, stunned and blinking in shock, wondering if he'd misheard. The mischevious and knowing grin she gave him over her shoulder, however, was more than enough of an answer for that. It seemed his girlfriend was more than capable of unleashing her own surprises onto him... well, for today at least. Not to say that she was predictable- his life would be hella boring if that was the case- but there were some habits of hers he never thought she'd shake; one of them being her hostility to Carly's boyfriends.

A grin took hold of his lips, scooping her up in his arms and landing a firm kiss on her mouth. She giggled against his lips in response to the unexpected action, wrapping her arms around his neck and returning it with just as much passion. A rumble of amusement sounded from Adrian's chest, eventually pulling away, but not releasing his grip on her waist. Holding her closely against him, he nuzzled her neck affectionately, giving her ear a playful nip as he did so. Amanda squirmed, muttering something about dinner under her breath, but willingly laying her head on his shoulder with a contented sigh.

"You took my advice," he breathed, sounding amused.

"Eh... sorta." If her grin was anything to go by, Adrian supposed she'd given him a hard time initially. Good on him. Whoever this new boyfriend was, he'd eternally won Adrian's respect simply by making it through Amanda's hellstorm and coming out on top. An amused chuckle from Adrian, and he stroked the small of her back, pulling back again simply to plant another kiss on her forehead. He did love her, honest to God. Despite even her flaws, he'd loved her for quite some time... ever since she'd generously given him five bucks for a Food Fair, and had barely even known him at a time.

An idea occured to him, an idea that had actually initially been suggested to him by Carly. Bowing his head, he pressed his forehead to her own, a curious light in her eyes as he did so. Amanda leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on his lips, briefly wondering whether or not dinner might be burning whilst they were distracted, before figuring Adrian probably had something important to say. Her hand absently toyed with the buttons on his shirt, teasingly quirking an eyebrow at him before asking mischeviously,

"Is there something you need, Mr. Stryder?"

Amanda missed the way he tensed at the title, too immersed in fiddling with his top buttons and trying to smell whether or not dinner was burning at the same time to notice the slight reaction. Adrian relaxed almost an instant later, reassured, his hands traveling down her arms to entwine with her own. That curious look was back in her eyes now, tilting her head slightly to the side, a ghost of a smile gracing her lips. Adrian resisted the urge to kiss those lips again, focussing instead on her intent gaze, summoning the courage to say his next words.

"Marry me."

The response was not what one would dub exactly encouraging. Amanda pretty much choked, her grip on his hands slackening in surprise and giving him a startled look. Not sure how to take this, Adrian's own grasp remained firm, ice blue eyes searching hers for any indication as to whether she was completely abhorent to the idea or otherwise.

"W-what?" she asked, voice betraying her uttermost surprise. Was he joking around? It seemed like a thing Adrian would do just to tease her, but his intent and serious gaze said otherwise. Surely he wasn't...? He couldn't be suggesting...? She shook her head, trying to clear it from the many confusing thoughts that were tumbling around in her mind. This was far what she'd expected. A night spent mainly in bed, perhaps, or even one of them silly games of cat and mouse that, as fun as it was, mostly left them with unresolved sexual tension because neither of them wanted to give in to the other... _that_ was where she'd thought the conversation had been heading. Not marriage.

He sunk down onto one knee before her, still holding on to her hands and never breaking eye contact. Whilst her mind was spinning, trying to find some logical purchase on the entire thing, her heart was literally doing somersaults of joy in her chest as it realised he wasn't joking. Not even in the slightest. _How, _she wondered, _did we go from our normal joking around this morning to... well.. to **this? **_Amanda loved surprises, heck, she practically _lived_ for Christmas and her birthday, but this? She didn't know whether to laugh or cry simply from all the confusing emotions welling up in side of her.

"Marry me," he repeated, gaze bright and imploring.

"What brought this on?" she asked, still having a difficult time he was being serious and not just having her on.

"Nothing. _Nothing _brought this on. Not until I just realised what an amazing girlfriend I have, and how there is no other person I would want to spend the rest of my life with."

She did nothing but stare at him in disbelief for a few moments, having not expected to hear those words... ever. In fact, in the midst of the chaotic thing that was her life, she'd never expected to be asked to be married at all. It simply was not something she'd thought about. Even as a child, she was more interested in playing with toy animals and dinosaurs instead of barbie and dolls, and as a teenager she'd completely disregarded any notion that she'd ever get married. She had issues staying committed to a sports team forever, let alone being committed to one person for the rest of her life. Not that she'd cheat on him, she'd just never imagined herself staying with one person and never being able to leave them.

And he'd said it himself. "The rest of his life." Not that it was typically a bad thing. Truthfully, Amanda felt very much the same. Though she loved being labelled as independent, she simply could not imagine her going on with life without Adrian being involved in it somehow. Carly loved him, her parents loved him, and, most importantly, _she _loved him. Positively adored him, with all her heart and soul. She almost felt sorry for all the girls who didn't have somebody as perfect as the man that was kneeling before her now.

She pulled her hands out of his grasp, kneeling down to be level with him and practically crushing him against her in a bear hug. She buried her face in to his neck, as much out of affection as it was an effort to hide the tears that were threatening to make their presence known, and not wanting to let him go. Not now, not ever.

"I take that as a yes?" he inquired, clearly amused but also relieved at the same time.

"Of course," she muttered, releasing him and placing another kiss on his lips. "Of _course. _I wouldn't want any other."

He gave her a cute, half-smile in return, rising to his feet and pulling her up with him. His hand delved into his pocket, his tone guilty as he admitted, "I don't really have much to seal the deal with." As he was speaking, he pulled a small, dark object out of his pocket, one that was too large to be mistaken as a wring, and too flimsy to even be considered the box where the ring would be hidden. "All I've got is this stupid watch my boss gave me today, at least until I get a ring. Said it was an extra he didn't need."

Her hands flew up to her mouth in surprise, giving Adrian a bewildered and questioning look, as if asking why his boss would be so generous. It wasn't just any old watch he'd pulled out, but one of those Rollex watches that only those pompous rich asses wore when they were strutting around town, looking to show off to the girls. Gingerly, she held out her arm, exposing her wrist in permission for him to place it on.

"That's awfully generous of him," she commented, looking amused despite her surprise. Just who was this Dylan Gould, anyway? She'd have to meet him someday. "A watch instead of a ring," she chuckled. "It seems like something we would do."

Her gaze flicked up to Adrian's face, her happy mood faltering for a second when she saw the concentrated frown on his face, looking curiously hesitant to hand the watch over to her. Her own confused frown adorned her face, arching an eyebrow and waiting for him to start moving. Was something the matter? Adrian looked halfway torn between the watch on her wrist, or stowing it back in his pocket, and Amanda began to fear she'd said something wrong. Was he second-guessing himself? What had she done this time?

As if only just becoming aware of her watching him, Adrian looked up at her in surprise, before dropping his hand and hastily stowing it back into his pocket. Wounded, but trying not to show it, Amanda put her arm back down to her side. Had he changed his mind already? Any previous signs of joy instantly evaporated, her heart feeling like it's somesault had caused it to land flat on it's face, and she gave him a concerned look.

"What's wrong?" she asked, trying to bury her own feelings and focus more on his own.

"I-um-nothing. Nothing. Don't worry. I just... if we're going to get married, I want to do it officially, you know?"

"Officially?"

"Properly. I know you don't like cheesy-"

"Giving me a watch temporarily isn't cheesy, Adrian," she pointed out with a touch of amusement, which mostly came from the simply relief that it wasn't her that had caused the sudden change in emotion and that he hadn't changed his mind.

"I know. But this means a lot to me, and it's one thing in my life I want to do properly."

Letting out a soft chuckle, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug, kissing his jawline before moving to his lips. They remained in that position a few moments longer, Adrian's tongue having pushed past her lips and mapping out the well-known cavern identified as his bride-to-be's mouth, before the sound of the washing machine beeping to signal the end of it's cycle ruined the moment and demanded their attention elsewhere. With an exasperated sigh, Amanda shook her head in exasperation, rolling her eyes playfully and stepping back and away from him. She didn't pay much attention to the weak and somewhat pained smile he offered her in return, having already turned to leave the room.

"Love you," he said, voice sincere, even though it sounded strained. "Really. No matter what anyone else tells you."

She cast him a curious glance over her shoulder, but seeing how serious he was being she decided a teasing comment would not be suitable, and instead opted for the truth. "Love you too," she said, smiling at him warmly.

And she left the room, completely unaware of the watch that was biting into his wrist in his pocket, sending painful jolts of electricity throughout his body for his failure to place it on her yet again. As she climbed the stairs to the laundry, she was blissfully oblivious to his muffled cries of pain as he finally allowed his body to collapse to the floor, having been keeping it together so long as she was in the room. And, despite her ignorance to what was going on downstairs, Adrian knew exactly what was going to happen. He was going to die for his insubordination. To be forgiven once was a miracle, but to be forgiven twice was impossible.

And it was a strange feeling, he realised, to finally have accepted your death. He hoped Amanda wouldn't be too upset. It was twice now that he'd saved her from the clutches of Dylan Gould, a simple assignment having escalated into something so much more between them. All he'd had to do- all he'd been sent to do- was to gain her trust, give her the watch, and then leave the rest up to the Decepticons. Was it his fault he'd had his heart stolen by her in the process? Probably, but he didn't blame her for his current predicament. If anything, he was glad. Glad he'd died protecting his girlfriend- no. Not his girlfriend, but his would-be future wife. Glad he'd fallen defending her rather than cowering beneath the strength of the Decepticons.

His gaze fell to his pocket where his hand was buried, knowing the high-tech "watch" was down there, probably having a field day as it fritzed out his nerves. It could've been over by now, but he knew Dylan Gould was simply looking to prolong his death and punishment. Mercy from that asshole was unlikely, and he would think himself a fool if he thought he would get out of this alive. He knew Dylan could probably hear him now- how else could he know he'd disobeyed them yet again?- and it was this peice of information that made him say what he said next.

"Fuck you," he snarled quietly, the last words he ever spoke.

**_"I suggest you do it this time, Mr. Stryder... before I do."_**

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><p><strong>AN: To clear some things up, yes. Adrian does work for Dylan Gould, and he was supposed to place that little high-tech-watch-from-hell on Amanda, and has previously failed to do it before. Why did he do it? 'Cause he fell in love with her. Why does Dylan Gould want her? That's a secret. Also, yes, Amanda is the adopted sister of Carly. And yes, the last sentence is simply an excerpt from the previous chapter, and was not spoken out loud. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: The first part was done when I was babysitting, as I had a unprecedented amount of time to kill. Poor kiddies. In all seriousness, though, the two girls are absolute angels. They're in bed and (hopefully) sleeping. The second part of this was done when I was sick and home from school. The 'Cons make their promised appearance, as well as this mysterious (yeah, whatever. Like we don't know who he is :P ) Dylan Gould. I'm not very good with over-emotional, sorry. ;) Thank you to my 8 individual and wonderful reviewers. Your comments are what convinces me to keep pushing forward with this story.**

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><p>Adrian was being unusually quiet, Amanda noted after a while. She'd just finished putting a new load of washing on when she noticed the lack of noise in the apartment, the silence seeming to blanket the building. It wasn't normal for Adrian to be quiet... he didn't exactly talk all the time, but he was always doing <em>something. <em>She would've expected the sound of someone rummaging through the kitchen, or even the flushing of the toilet would be more preferable to this strange silence. _Probably planning to sneak up behind me again, _she snorted to herself, looking back fondly on the memory when she'd screamed so loudly is was a wonder the Police didn't come knocking that afternoon.

Slipping out of the laundry, careful to be equally sneaky and to avoid all the squeaky floorboards, Amanda slowly made her way down the stairs with a coy grin on her face. He was here somewhere. His prolonged silence had, if anything, merely supported her theory that he was planning something.

"Adrian..." she called out in a singsong voice, reaching the bottom of the stairs. Cautiously, she peered around the corner, but saw no signs of life. Unpertubed, she pressed on, making her way to the kitchen where she'd last seen him. "I know you're here..." When she poked her head into the kitchen, she didn't exactly see what she had expected.

Adrian, sprawled across the kitchen floor, facedown and unmoving. For a brief and naive moment, she wondered if he was sleeping. That was until it dawned on her but a second later that, when somebody was sleeping, they usually breathed. Or normal people did, anyway. Her heart skipped a beat, her senses flooded with fear and shock, and some part of her immediately went into denial and insisted the she was just imagining it all. Why would Adrian be dead? He was absolutely fine ten minutes ago.

Numbly, she closed the distance between herself and the body (_live _body, she was still trying to tell herself), crouching down beside him even as her mind was in utter turmoil. Her scrambled thoughts consisted mainly of a scattered mess of; "_How the hell do I know he's dead," "This can't be happening," _and _"God no, not now..." _Unfortunately for her, this _was_ happening, and it was also happening now. As for the first one, she answered that when she remember a basic First Aid course. Hesitantly, not entirely sure she wanted to know the answer to her own unspoken question, she pressed two fingers to where his pulse in his neck should be and nearly choked when she felt nothing there.

By this time, Amanda's hands were shaking, but she did not move her hand. Even as the tears pricked her eyes and her heart gave a painful wrench inside her chest, a part of her mind, a part of _her,_ refused to accept that her fiancee, the greatest love of her life, lay before her... not dying... but _dead. _A few more minutes ticked by before she finally gave up, the tears freely streaming down her face by then, and let out a strangled sob. It was too surreal for her to put into words, and completely abandoning any reason she gathered him up in her arms and buried her head in his lifeless shell, crying into his chest as she had done numerous times when he had been alive.

An unprecedented amount of time passed before she managed to gather herself together, laying him back down and having reduced her tears to quiet sniffles. She whispered a barely-audible "Love you," to him, unsteadily rising to her feet and glancing around the room, wondering what on Earth to do now. It was only then that it occured to her to ring the authorities, and she practically stumbled into the hallway, drying her tears hastily and picking up the telephone. Just as she was wondering who to call- the Police or the Ambulance?- she realised that there was no tone. Bemused, she placed down the receiver and checked all the cords, before trying again.

Still nothing.

Frowning, she swallowed thickly, and retraced her footsteps down the hallway to where she had left her handbag. Upon fishing out her phone and flicking her cellphone open, however, two dreaded words sat mockingly at the top of the screen:

_No Service._

_You have got to be kidding me, _Amanda thought, glancing around hopelessly, wondering what to do now. She'd always had good reception in her flat... _always. _The next few minutes were spent with her wandering around various areas of her house trying to get reception, but she got nothing. Not one bar. With a cry of pure fury mixed with sadness, she threw her phone against the wall and let out another sob. Now what was she meant to do?

A few more moments of crying. A few more moments wasted. When she'd collected herself together again, she returned to the kitchen, if only to confirm that she hadn't just been imagining things. Unfortunately, Adrian had not moved, and it sent her into another session of tears. This time, however, instead of breaking down completely she still had enough focus to delve through his pockets, searching for that watch he'd tried to give her before suddenly changing his mind.

She blinked in surprise when she realised it wasn't there, and briefly wondered if it had fallen out of his pocket when he'd collapsed. But, honestly, did she really care about a little watch at the moment? She had to ring the cops... or the ambulance people... she still hadn't decided which. An idea occured to her, and she made her way to the door, deciding to go ask one of her neighbours. Surely they would help an upset young woman out?

Just as she opened her front door, however, she nearly ran straight into a man standing outside her door who had his fist raised, as if he had been about to knock. Amanda stared at him in shock for a few moments, unable to believe her luck, and barely registered the award-winning and without-a-doubt charming grin he flashed her. Her mouth was beginning to open, about to make her request, but the mysterious man beat her to it.

"Are you Amanda Brooks-Spencer?" he asked, his tone warm and friendly.

Deceptively friendly, Amanda would later discover.

"Uh, yes. Look can I borrow your-"

"Excellent," he purred, taking a step forward. "May I come in?" He flashed her another smile that would have any girl melting into a pile of goo in a matter of seconds.

Unfortunately for him, this didn't seem to be quite so effective on hysterical girlfriends who had just found their boyfriends dead in the kitchen, and she stared at him uncomprehendingly for a few seconds. Why was he acting so casual? Couldn't he tell she had been crying? It was awfully painfully obvious when Amanda had been crying, as her eyes stayed an ugly red for quite some time afterwards. Did this guy not realise? Or did he just not care? When she finally gathered her bearings, she gave a stiff nod and let him inside, not entirely sure what the purpose of that was serving. Despite him cutting her off twice now, she still persevered.

"Do you have your cellphone on you?" she asked.

"Why no, no I don't. Horribly fiddly things, I'm sure you can understand. Unfortunately, as a businessman of my stature, they require quite frequent use."

As he spoke, he was casually surveying the house, more of a sweeping glance than anything else. At that given point in time, Amanda wasn't sure if she really cared if he was actually just curious or was looking for the best things to steal, and just wanted help for Adrian. She also didn't wonder about why he had failed to ask what it was for, which was something she would regret in hindsight. Which reminded her... she was sure this stranger would not be impressed to find a dead man in her kitchen... if he made it that far.

"Look, Mr. ..."

"Gould," he told her, his gaze falling back on her, "Dylan Gould. But please, call me by my first name."

Unlike everything else in the last few hours, it didn't take Amanda that long at all to recognize that name, and it filled her with hope and happiness. Dylan Gould was Adrian's employer! He would, surely, help her out? He would understand... right?

"Adrian's boss?" she asked for clarification, just in case. There was no disguising the obvious relief in her voice, though.

"That's the one. Why? Is something wrong, dear?"

Even if Amanda was a trained detective, there was probably no way she could've realised his concern was completely false. There was no way she could've known that he know _exactly _why she might be asking for a cellphone, or why her face was streaked with tears. There was also no way she could've known how terribly amused he was by the whole situation, or that he was the entire reason her boyfriend was dead. The way he tilted his head to the side, the way his blue eyes seemed to shine with utter compassion... it was all very convincing.

It was also enough to send her into another emotional breakdown as she tried to answer his question, her mind flicking back to the image of a dead Adrian on the kitchen floor. Wouldn't it look suspicious, she realised then. Would anyone believe he had just dropped dead on the floor with no apparent reason? Surely, _surely, _they wouldn't blame her for it? How could she wish anyone, especially Adrian, any harm? Besides from a couple of Carly's exs, of course, but that was really just a bit of fun.

"H-He's..."

She didn't even get a chance to finish her sentence before she'd broken down crying again, and she gratefully accepted the comfort offered by Dylan as he wrapped his arms around her and held her to his chest, making shushing noises to her as he stroked her hair. If only she'd been able to see the glint in his eyes as he did so. If only she'd been able to see just how much he was enjoying this, holding such a remarkable Carly-look-alike to his chest, and perhaps faintly imagining it was her sister that he was comforting over the death of Sam Witwicky.

"It's ok, it's ok," he crooned to her, and continued to say things in a similar manner until she'd regained partial control of her emotions again. "It's alright. He's in a better place, now, right?"

Perhaps, if Amanda had not been so upset and already convinced that Dylan was a genuinely nice guy, she would've realised his small slip up. Instead, she hopelessly clung to his shirt as her tears began to slow, sniffling as she did her best to give him a convincing nod. Thank God he was here. She didn't know if she would've been capable of making it all the way to one of the neighbour's houses without breaking down on the way. Thank God he was here, letting her ruin what was probably a one hundred thousand dollar suit with her tears, even if it was probably only a very small sum of money to a guy like him. He was such a nice guy, and in some part of her mind she could imagine him and Adrian genuinely getting along.

Whilst she was distracted, she didn't notice she was being moved out of the house until they were halfway out the door, and her gaze immediately flicked up at Dylan Gould in alarm. His calmer, more self-assured expression was quick to expel her rising panic, however, and his charming grin seemed to keep it at bay. He was so relaxed, and assured, and confident... everything that Amanda was not. She almost envied his ability to keep it together, if it weren't for the fact she probably would've felt guilty should she not have expressed some sort of sadness as the departure of her boyfriend.

"Wh-Where are we going?" she asked, still having the faintest of doubts about her.

"Away from here," he replied smoothly, still guiding her away from and out of the flat. "It's too dangerous to stay. Some bad people will be arriving here at any minute."

She had no idea how true that really was.

"Wha-? What do you mean? What about Adrian? We can't leave Adrian-!"

There was a brief scuffle as she tried to force her way back inside, but Dylan's superior strength restrained her with ease, holding her to the spot and forcing her to remain still. This did not, however, stop her from squirming and thrashing, not to mention attempts at kicking and biting.

"Amanda- _Amanda. _Look at me. You go back in there, you are dead, do you understand?"

"We can't _abandon _him-!"

"We're _not. _Amanda! Listen to me." His hands now gripped her forearms tightly, and her gaze reluctantly returned to his as she forced herself to still and not race in there back after Adrian. "I've already called the police, ok? They're on their way. But if we don't move _now, _we're going to get killed. Now I don't know about you, but I don't particularly think Adrian would've died hoping that you would join him any time soon." Dylan waited for the words to sink in, and did not loosen his grasp until it'd registered in her eyes and she'd given him a terse nod. He relaxed his hold slightly, but was careful to remain close enough that if she bolted he'd still be able to grab ahold before she got too far.

A hand casually slipped into hers as he began to lead her down the steps and towards the street where he'd parked his vehicle, the action so subtle that Amanda barely even noticed it. Then again, in the state she was in, he probably could've kissed her and she'd have taken quite some time to realise what the hell was going on. Before she fully comprehended where they were headed, they'd already crossed the road, and she found herself being slid into the passenger side of some kind of expensive-looking sports car. Dylan Gould was occupying the driver's seat beside her, giving the steering wheel a strangely apprehensive look, as if it might bite him if he dared to touch it. Amanda watched him with a curious expression, but her attention was soon stolen away by all the other features within the car. Why was it only when Adrian had died that she'd finally gotten to ride in one of these things?

"Dylan..." she began as she wiped her the remaining tears on her sleeve, a touch of uncertainty in her voice. "Exactly... who are we running from?"

"You'll see," he muttered, which didn't seem like much of an answer at all, but that may have been because he'd finally worked up the courage to start up the car and was a bit distracted at that point in time. "You might as well sleep until then. It's going to be a long trip."

And, like the fool she was, Amanda did just that. It was only later that she'd realise how gullible and stupid her actions were, and how she would soon come to regret them. For now, however, she was all too ready to trust the stranger Dylan Gould. He was, afterall, Adrian's boss. What harm could he possibly mean? Plus, if she thought about it, he _was_ rather attractive and charming... in his own way. Perhaps not the same way that Adrian was, with his cute little Irish accent and teasing remarks, but a looker nonetheless. And how many genuine, compassionate guys were out there, anyway? Adrian was one, Dylan another, and Sam... well. She was still making her mind up about Sam. And wasn't there a possibility that Adrian would've wanted her to be... happy, should he have died? If it did mean with his boss?

It was these thoughts that were weighing heavily upon her mind as her seat seemed to fold back seemingly of it's own accord, supplying her with a comfortable sleeping position and soon sending her into slumber's welcoming embrace.


	4. Chapter 4

It was dark when Amanda awoke.

Thick, heavy-looking curtains blocked the silver stream of moonlight that was pressing up against the massive windows to her left, though hopeful slivers managed to spill onto the bed and carpet through the cracks. She found herself in a spacious, yet uncomfortably empty room; the queen-sized bed she found herself on took up the majority of the area, with a small dresser and mirror pushed against one wall. Cautiously, half-confused as to her whereabouts, she slowly sat up and surveyed her surroundings- searching for even the smallest hint of familiarity, the slightest of indications that she knew where she was. She absently noted the warm light peeking under the edge of the door, bathing the creamy-coloured carpet in a soft, yellow glow. Someone had to be awake.

She took a moment to consider her options, wondering if it would be appropriate to exit the bedroom or whether she might end up walking into an unfortunate situation. Where _was _she? Where was Adrian? Why wasn't she home? This certainly wasn't her house, she'd never once owned such delicate and expensive covers to layer her bed. Had Adrian taken her somewhere? Moved her? Had something happened? Was he planning a surprise? Where _was _he?

Similar questions chased persistent rings around her semi-conscious mind, the answer sitting on the precipice of discovery but repeatedly slipping out of reach. If only her mind could catch up, there had to be a perfectly acceptable explanation for this...

As the blurry haze of slumber began to fade, slowly making her return to the land of the living, she began to register a familiar impression of emotional weariness. The type that often made her feel exhausted yet considerably lightened; the type that she often experienced after a hard night of crying her eyes out. Which was rather odd when she thought about it. What could have possibly upset her this time? Probably something pointless, knowing her. She liked to overthink things when she was in a bad mood, imagine slights when there were none.

Or so she believed, until her throbbing head, crinkled clothes and the sharp tang of another man's cologne slapped her in the face. In the blink of an eye everything came rushing back, realisation dropping on her like a tonne of heart-crushing bricks. Adrian. Her Adrian. Dead. _Gone. _Her hand slapped over her mouth as she choked back an anguished sob, eyes immediately tearing up and spilling over. That vicious, unrelenting mind of hers tortured her with images she didn't want to relive, reconstructing the precious moments when she'd seen his lifeless shell sprawled in the middle of the kitchen floor. What the _hell_ had happened? Had he had a heart attack? Oh God, she hoped he hadn't been concealing some sort of health issue from her! Maybe that was why he proposed, maybe he'd known he didn't have much time left...

Quite frankly, she wasn't sure she'd ever find out. There hadn't been a lot of time to investigate after his boss had barged into her home and spirited her away. Speaking of which, where was the guy? Last she remembered they'd been in some fancy silver car, cruising down the road at speeds that seemed almost ironically life-threatening. Was he the reason she was here, now? He had to be. Though exactly where "here" was...? Well. There was only one way to find that out.

Hastily wiping away the tears that had dared to trace pathways into her face, she swung her feet out of bed and did her utmost best to quietly approach the illuminated door. Placing one hand on the doorknob, she took a shaky breath in, steeling herself for whatever she might find. Jesus, she hoped she wouldn't find mob leaders on the other side.

With a simple twist and push, Amanda stepped through the door and found herself in the middle of a decorated hallway. The walls were adorned with what appeared to be fancy paintings and photographs, presumably very expensive and costly to repair... she'd have to make a mental note not to break anything, lest one of the mobsters shanked her as a form of repayment. To her right the hall opened up into a platform, and she spied the beginnings of a spiral staircase. Not having much of a choice in the matter, she decided her best option was to descend down them.

Voices caught her attention the moment she hit the bottom step, which she followed into a kitchen that looked entirely too large for the one person that was occupying it. The area was outlined by a ring of counter-tops, occasionally interrupted by the positioning of a random kitchen appliance- such as a stove or dishwasher. Further to the left of the room, outside the ring formed by the bench, sat a small bar are that was complete with couches facing towards a ridiculously sized flat screen TV. The regular news appeared to be broadcasting, accounting for the multiple voices she'd heard before.

In the middle sat a small island, which was currently being decorated by an array of various ingredients and a simple black laptop, which sat passively amongst the chaos of food surrounding it. She couldn't help but feel as if the ingredients were mockingly familiar.

A man- who looked suspiciously like Gould- was apparently cooking something indiscernible-yet-delicious-smelling. For some reason it struck her as slightly comical that such a wealthy man was cooking his own food, though she supposed she was being a bit stereotypical in expecting him to have acquired his own personal chef. Of course upper class people were capable of cooking their own food. Some of them just... chose not to.

"Ah, you're up," Dylan suddenly spoke, startling her out of whatever bitter thoughts she had been lost in.

He sounded almost jokingly surprised, but Amanda couldn't find it within herself to smile at his attempt at humour. The only thing on her mind was questions and, more importantly, some definite answers.

"Where am I?" she demanded, cutting straight to the point.

She couldn't find any sense in beating around the bush. Regardless of how much Adrian had trusted this guy, she liked to think that she still had a right to know. Taking a girl back to your house after only meeting for five minutes? Yeah, that generally happened to be frowned upon. Especially if she was unaware that was the intended destination... or she was unconscious during the trip.

"Well..." he trailed off, gesturing around the room with an amused spark in his eye, "isn't it obvious? You're in my home. _Welcome, _by the way."

"Is your sarcasm supposed to cheer me up?"

"I don't think a lot could cheer you up at the moment, gorgeous."

She bit her tongue, refraining from making some kind of snarky reply. Gorgeous? _Really? _Was he _really _hitting on her now? Did he _really _think that was a good idea? How could he be so completely inconsiderate towards the fact that her boyfriend- no, _fiancé- _had died mere hours ago?! Either he had a damn good explanation, or he was legitimately stupid. It wouldn't be the first time she'd met a pretty face who'd turned out to have been undoubtedly dropped as a child. Some people. Yikes. At least he got one thing right; her mood definitely wasn't improving anytime soon. No thanks to him.

Inhaling a deep breath, she tried to calm herself before daring to ask another question... lest her fist _accidentally_ ended up connecting with her ever-so-flattering host. She had to remember how highly Adrian had spoken of this guy, praising his intelligence, efficiency and charm. Not that she had any reason to trust him. After all, he _had_ turned up at her house- with exceptionally convenient timing, no less- for some reason he had yet to specify, had convinced her into leaving Adrian's corpse in the middle of the floor, and then driven her all the way to his home in the middle of God-knew-where. Forgive her if alarm bells had been raised. Why had she even agreed to get in that damned car in the first place?

Because she'd been emotionally vulnerable, she realised. She'd turned to the first source of comfort that had present itself, and she now internally berated herself for doing that. Clearly, she needed a refreshing lesson on stranger danger.

But... on the other hand, she had no reason _not _to trust him. As of yet. He hadn't indicated any intention of harming her, and even now his posture appeared decidedly unthreatening. Relaxed, leaning against the bench with a pitiful spatula in his hand (and realistically, what was the worst her could do with that? Spank her?), he didn't seem remotely sketchy or ill-wishing. Maybe she was just being paranoid, over-thinking things like she always did. Though she had to admit, being brought to someone's house while she was sleeping was still somewhat unnerving.

Deciding on a different direction, she ventured to ask, "How long have I been out?"

"Oh, shouldn't have been any longer than twenty-six hours I'd say."

_Twenty-six?!_

"I- what- _how?" _she spluttered out, shock making it difficult to form a coherent sentence.

Was that even physically possible? How had she been asleep for a full _twenty-six hours_ without waking up? She couldn't even manage ten hours on a weekend...

"Well, I did sedate you-"

_"PARDON?!"_

"-It was the only way to ensure you'd stay out of trouble."

Amanda could only gape at him, utterly lost for words at the abrupt turn of events. How could he say that like it was a _normal _thing? Did he make a habit of this kind of behaviour? How many girls had he injected and brought back to his house... oh god Lord, he wasn't one of those serial rapists, was he? What kind of sick basterd took advantage of an emotional semi-widow?! Jesus Christ, she was in some deep shit...

"Wh-what do you mean keep me out of trouble?"

Even as she spoke the words, her feet were already backtracking slowly out the kitchen door.

"Amanda, please," he said, sounding slightly exasperated, "I didn't want you panicking and making a run for it. The moment the police caught you, it'd be game over."

"You mean they'd lock you up for being some kind of deranged kidnapper?" she sneered, her fear turning her defensive.

"It wouldn't be me getting locked up."

That stopped her in her tracks, fixing Dylan with a confused and suspicious look. Why on Earth would the police have any reason to put her behind bars? He was bluffing. He had to be. That just didn't make sense. She hadn't done anything wrong, besides from abandoning her boyfriend at the encouragement of a complete stranger. Maybe that wasn't the best decision in terms of being morally sound, but she'd been a snivelling wreck at the time. Could they really blame her for not thinking straight? Surely not. They'd be more interested in the suspicious man with the convenient timing.

A suspicious man who was beginning to sound increasingly dodgy the more time she spent around him.

"They have nothing on me. I can charge you with kidnapping."

"The most they'll probably charge me with is an accessory to murder, _Mrs._ _Stryder_. And if you pay attention to the news you might just find out why."

He indicated to one of the luxurious couches facing the television, a clear invitation for her to take a seat. For the briefest of moments she hesitated, conflicted between wanting her curiosity sated and the urging instinct to get the Hell out of there while she still could. Gould had returned to his cooking, and didn't appear to be the most prominent threat at that very moment. Either he was extremely arrogant and expected her to accept his invite, or he genuinely didn't care whether she walked out that door. A few cautious steps back into the room, followed by a few more, and she found herself sinking down on the edge of the sofa.

Unfortunately, her decision wasn't the only thing causing her uneasiness.

"How did you know?" she questioned, nervously fidgeting with her fingers.

"I know more about you two than I care to admit, beautiful."

Now why did _that _make her feel decidedly uncomfortable?

It took fifteen minutes before the news story finally came up. Fifteen whole minutes for her to discover exactly why it wasn't safe for her to leave Dylan's home, without fear of being detained with little explanation. Within that time Dylan had managed to finish cooking and was currently perched on a barstool situated at the bench behind her, happily consuming whatever it was that he had decided to concoct. Even though her stomach growled and grumbled with deprived want, she'd refused herself the entertainment of turning around to see what he'd created, and she certainly wasn't going to ask him for any. Some unexplainably bitter part of Amanda hoped he'd choke on it.

A fair, blonde-haired girl stood on an eerily familiar looking street, her eyes glistening with that false remorse reporters loved to plaster on these days. Behind her lay the scorched ruins of what appeared to have formerly been a building of some kind, now charred and beyond repair. No doubt some unlucky scapegoat would be getting sued for this.

_"Thanks Mike," _the reporter was saying, and Amanda couldn't help but snort at the cliché name, _"Yesterday this apartment building suffered extreme fire damage that had firefighters tirelessly working throughout the night in an effort to extinguish the toxic flames."_

"It's the smoke that's toxic, bimbo," Amanda couldn't help but comment, rolling her eyes.

Dylan made an amused sound from behind her.

_"This morning they discovered the cause of the fire; someone had left their stove on and unattended, but firefighters strangely discovered a deceased male body resting in the middle of the floor. So far authorities are unaware of the exact cause of death, but based on the position of the body they are assuming that he may have suffered an unfortunate heart attack." _

Wait a minute...

_"Records show that the man did have a female partner living with him at the time, and witnesses claim that they saw her enter the apartment earlier that day. As far as we know, she hasn't shown up at the scene for twenty-four hours since then. Authorities are currently getting in touch with friends and family in an effort to track her whereabouts."_

The silence following the story's end was deafening.

Amanda suddenly felt numb. Very numb. That had been her home, her apartment. With the shock of Adrian's sudden death and the unexpected rush to get out the door, she hadn't even considered the fact that she'd left the stove on. Even with Dylan blatantly cooking right in front of her, nothing in her brain had clicked. In the grand scheme of things, its existence had completely slipped her mind, become of less importance. Christ, what was a burning stove in comparison to the death of her boyfriend and an extremely suspicious stranger? At least she knew she had her priorities straight.

Oh, and her random disappearance? That didn't seem dodgy at all.

Feeling at a loss for what to do, she turned to face Dylan, hoping he would give her some peace of mind; some answer that could get her out of this strange and confusing predicament. What did she even have to fear, to be perfectly honest? She knew she hadn't been the cause of Adrian's death. Upstairs... doing the washing... she'd been in a completely separate room all together. Not to mention, anyone who had met the couple knew how hopelessly in love with him she had been... how hopelessly in love she still _was. _But it couldn't hurt to seek counsel from Gould. He was supposed to be the intelligent, analytical, calculating type...

Once she realised what he'd cooked himself, however, she concluded that there was, in fact, a great deal of harm in asking Dylan Gould.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys! I'm back, for now, procrastinating with fanfic writing instead of doing homework. :3 Let me know whether or not you enjoyed it!<strong>


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